Car magazine reports that Jaguar wants to build an XE take on Porsche in the two-seater roadster market. The company is planning to produce some version of this garish, over-wrought, beltline-up-to-its-nipples, wagon-wheeled, bastard child of a Z-car mated with an Aston. It would slot into the £40K – £50K bracket, between the slow-selling Cayman and the slow-selling iconic 911 range. The rear wheel-drive Jag will/might/should share its aluminium architecture with the XF and XJ models. It’ll be powered by 275bhp V6 or a 350bhp supercharged version of same. The plan: introduce the XE roadster by 2013. If successful, convertible and R versions to follow. If not, not. In theory, the baby cat will be styled more gracefully than Rita Hayworth (ignoring all evidence to the contrary), rival a wood burning stove for reliability and begin life in the UK. OK but—the X-Type was supposed to be a BMW 3-series killer. Something got killed in the process, and it wasn’t German.

11 Comments on “Jaguar’s Porsche Ambitions...”

I can’t bring myself to agree with the negative tone of this post. Jag is now certifiably an old man’s car…they need this sport infusion, badly. The rendering has some attractiveness issues, but that’s why we wait to see an actual car in the flesh.

Jag has shown it is back with the XF, and the XJ looks impressive as well. It’s time to let go of the X-type debacle…

Just wondering how much of the Porsche market could Jaguar take with this attempt and how much of a benefit will this be for the company? How many units are they thinking of selling? I like the idea of this car and I’d like to see it built in some form or another.

There was a time Jag was considered a hip and desirable car: think Hunter Thompson’s “The Proud Highway” and Jan/Dean’s “Deadman’s Curve.” Usually, nostalgia in reminiscence leaves only the pleasanter memories. Unfortunately, in the case of Jaguar, the only memories remaining are those of major repair bills for minor problems, along with the spectre of the cursed Dark Prince, Joseph Lucas.

Jaguar lost the plot on the light sports car when the XKE (E-Type) went out of production. What they really need is a car that is about a fourth bigger than a Mazda Miata or a Honda S2000. Make sure it goes like stink and handles like a dream. Set a new standard for the world’s best snick-snick shifter. Sell a stripper version for the weekend racers, and a dressed up leather/luxo version for the country club set. Coupe as well as OTS would be good.

If they made this thing with a retractable hard top I think they would do well with it. I’m sure the styling will be toned down for production. The Z4 & SLK just dont do it for me, this is more like it.

grifonik :
“I’m trying to remember the last time Jag built a “light” car… It’s been quite a while right?”

1967 to be exact. Then came Leylandization, federalization, and finally the bloatification that came along with the V-12 engine in 1971, which transmogrified the E-type sports car into a much bigger GT car. The V-12 did bring back some of the old E-type performance but at a cost of size and weight. The XJS that replaced the E was seriously big.